The Lions Club International is celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and the Perry Lions Club is excited to be a part of this historical milestone. President Marty Myers said their organization plans to attend the international convention this summer where it all began — Chicago.
“The Lions Club was founded on June 7, 1917 by Melvin Jones in Chicago,” said Myers. “From there, the organization grew to Canada, Mexico and currently today there are over 46,000 chapters with 1.4 million members. We, in Perry, are excited to be in service again.”
The Perry Lions Club was chartered in summer of 2015 and this is the third time Perry has charted. Myers believes the members they have now are strong and will continue to move forward. Right now, the club has 20 members and are seeking more.
“The key is to try and keep a good mixture,” said Myers. “I think what’s happened in the past is the club will start with people all the same age, grow old together and then the club would fade away. We have a good mixture with a lot of young adults like Kristen Driggers from the Perry Chamber and Allison Hamsley from the Perry Conventions Bureau and Visitors Center.”
The Lions Club was specifically chartered for community service, but also with the mission of helping the vision impaired. In 1925, it was reported in the organizations history that Helen Keller spoke at the international convention that year and challenged them to be the knights of the blind.
“Since then, funds have always been raised, but there are facilities all across the country that the Lions Club has built to help train guide dogs and sighted guides to help the vision impaired,” said Myers. “We also collect used glasses to have them refurbished and donate to other countries.”
Myers shared a story that was very rewarding to the club in helping a local student from Perry High School.
“A social worker from the school system came to us asking for help because a student had broken their glasses,” said Myers. “The student lives with their grandparents not having much and with Medicare, they only provide one pair of glasses each year. Again, this student’s pair was broken and they were really struggling with their studies. So our club stepped up and was able to purchase her a brand new pair. To me, it was a very rewarding experience and I can’t wait to be able to help more people.”
Myers’ goal is to invite more people to come to their meetings, learn what they are about and become members. Other projects the Perry Lions have been involved in is helping with the city’s neighborhood cleanup days and working at the college football Peach Bowl. The Lions Club has partnered with the college bowl and in turn for their work, money is donated back to the club.
“Strength comes in numbers,” said Myers. “The more people we have, the more we can do for the community, country and worldwide. Another goal of the club is to eradicate measles and it was accomplished here in the United States. Now our mission is to do so worldwide. It’s a great organization and I encourage everyone to come visit us and give us a try.”
The Perry Lions Club meets every second and fourth Tuesday at noon of each month at Cherokee Pines Fitness and Golf Club. If anyone is interested in joining, Myers said to stop by and attend a meeting or email perrygalions@gmail.com.
Myers also mentioned that he purchased the vacant building located on Ball Street for community service and fundraising projects. He said it will be for the Perry Lions Club to help facilitate with any events that are held downtown. The first event they will help with is the Peaches to Beaches yard sale. Myers said they will be on hand to help and also sell the famous Lions Club brooms and mops.
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